Stories of Kahlum
by doobit91
Summary: This is the story of the journey of Isaac, Garret, and J.C., three trainers on the continent of Kahlum, a place where rules are strict, and people will do anything to win. Chapter 3 is up.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own pokemon or any of its characters.

Yes, my fic has all new people and a nonexistent land, but I know you'll like it.

Chapter 1

Isaac grinned down at his scantron sheet. He had finished. His entire school career. His life at home. It was all over.

As he got up, he noticed his friends in the other parts of the testing hall. Garret grimaced and blinked at the form in front of him. Isaac could not help but feel a small triumph, _I won again. _His eyes shifted over to J.C. who did not seem to be doing any better on her test. Feeling confident, he strutted to the front desk and placed the paper on the table. _I know I passed that._ Walking out of the room, he sat down in the lobby of the Pokemon Training Headquarters and began to wait for the other would-be trainers to finish their license tests.

"Get up!" Garret spouted. Isaac opened his blue eyes quickly, unaware he had fallen asleep.

"Howja do?" he stammered, "Oh".

Garret's blond hair had been twirled into spirals, which he only did during times of stress, and had the frustrated, stormy kind of look that people who have barely slept for a week tend to get.

"Guess," he asked sarcastically.

Again, J.C. did not look much better. "I didn't finish," she said, looking at the floor, "I wish Kahlum gave trainers' licenses like the other countries! You don't have to be able to drive, just be ten years old, and I hear the test is really easy so the little kids all pass!"

"Watch the temper." Isaac reminded her.

"Hcch. You're one to talk."

The group walked out the sliding doors with only one happy member. Isaac waited through the uncomfortable silence.

"Sorry you guys," he burst out lamely, "I know you'll pass."

"Oh, shut up. We don't need… whatever," Garret spat.

"Whoa, I'm just trying to help. I can't help if you failed," Isaac retorted.

"Hey! Who failed?"

"Well apparently you, seeing as how you're pretty busy feeling sorry for yourself at the moment."

"Shut up both of you!" J.C. screamed, "Stop being so goddamn immature! We all want everyone else to pass. Isaac, can you just not talk about it for a while? We know you passed, but we don't want to have to wait another three months to take it again." She sighed, looking away.

"I'm not sure I'm going to pass either, y'know," Isaac lied.

"Yeah. Right. You're _always_ at the head of the class, and Mrs. Partel _always _loved her prize student for being so stupidly smart. Bitch."

Suddenly, Garret brightened, "We're never going to see her again. Ha! Remember the thing with the dunsparce?"

Everyone laughed tentatively at first, then, with reassuring eye contact, the elephant disappeared.

"Okay, I'm gonna head back to the farm," Garret said, grinning, "I'm not mad anymore." He lived on a clamperl "farm" where his parents organized a company in harvesting the pearls.

"Okay," J.C. spoke back, "I'll head home too." No one really could figure out what the Soam's did for a living.

"Alright. Bye," Isaac called as he was leaving, "Clear your oh so rigid schedules and let's meet at the training center in a week"

As he stepped through the gate of the combination research lab and home owned by the Alsups, he saw his mom working in the miniature garden on the side of the house with her oldest miltank. "How'd work at the pokecenter go today, Doctor Alsup?" He yelled across his yard. "Fine. And that's Mom to you, young man," Janine Alsup yelled back. "miltank, be a dear and move out of the way." "Mil-il," the miltank mooed happily. "Is Dad in the back?" "Mmm-hmm."

Isaac trotted around the side of his house to the burnt, frozen, thawed, windswept, shaken, stirred, and psycho-blasted field that Hector Alsup used as an outside laboratory.

"Isaac!" screamed his father once he saw him, "How'd the test go..." But was interrupted by an even shriller, "Isaac! I totally forgot! How did the test go?" of Doctor Alsup running around the corner. Isaac laughed, "Great, I know I passed."

"Oh, just look at my little boy! You'll be a gym leader before you know it!"

"Or a pokemon researcher!"

"Why would he want to be a researcher when he could be a doctor?"

"Hey! That's moving a little too fast! I just want to become a trainer and see what happens!" the subject of the bickering protested, "And I'm going upstairs."

"We're teasing with you son," Hector shouted jovially as Isaac opened the door.

"I know. I know."

He quickly ran up the stairs into his room and deposited his backpack in the closet before grabbing his pet pokeball from the magnetic belt around his waist.

"Come on out, torchic!" he said as he tossed the pokeball on the ground.

"Tor-torchic!" the tiny pokemon cried as it appeared in a flash of light.

Isaac grabbed it around the middle and placed it in his lap. He sat there, stroking the downy, orange feathers on its head, the pointed to the Everstone collar around its neck and said, "You're gonna get that off in a week. I've had you a while, so you might evolve! Can you do that without battling?"

He looked at his pokemon quizzically, and it returned the glance.

"And we're gonna finally be able to battle together!" The Pokemon cheeped with delight. "Do you want to battle Garret's clamperl or J.C.'s nidoran first? We're definitely going to battle one of them first thing!"

"Torchic," Torchic replied fervently.

"Well, I don't know what that means, but you can tell me when we get there next week, okay?" Torchic nodded.

Isaac glanced at the posters all around his room. One hung for each gym leader in Kahlum, and every elite four trainer and champion for every country. "As soon as we have our license, we're gonna burn all of these. 'Cuz we're gonna beat 'em all."

One week later, a crowd had gathered in the Pokemon Training Headquarters.

"All prospective trainers, please line up at the windows to get your envelopes," an attendant announced over the PA.

J.C., Isaac, and Garret filed up to the employees, stated their names, and were given an envelope each.

"My envelope feels too light! There's only one piece of paper in it! I knew I didn't make it," J.C. squealed.

"They all just have one sheet of paper in them. Stop whining," Garret said, though his nervousness showed through.

"Well, I guess we all made it, or we all failed," Isaac speculated, trying to remain calm. "We should probably bring our pokemon out for this."

Isaac let out his torchic, J.C. her cute, female nidoran, and Garret his burly clamperl. "On three," Garret encouraged, "One, two, three!"

All three sixteen year olds ripped open their envelopes and pulled out the document inside. "Yes!" J.C. screamed. The paper Isaac held congratulated him for passing the test, gave him the right to buy pokeballs and to remove the Everstone collar on his pokemon, assigned him an I.D. number, and acted as a voucher for one Pokelamp trainer's device from any Royalty brand store.

Isaac picked up his torchic in triumph, and then looked up at Garret. His paper drooped sadly from his hand, and contained no official seal.

The boy looked up slowly. "I didn't make it."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"What? What!" J.C. stammered, "What does it say?"

"I got an eleven-fifty outa' two thousand," he moaned, "Eight-fifty on the battle and two hundred on the written portion."

"Wait. You got an eight-fifty on the battle section? That's higher than I scored," Isaac said.

"Will you just shut up for a half second! It doesn't matter! I can't go with you guys. I have to wait another three months. But I'm so stupid that I'll probably fail again, and again after that! And After I've failed three times, I won't ever get a license, and clamperl won't ever be anything more than a pet."

"No, no, no! What are you talking about? We won't go on without you! And you're not stupid. You'll pass next time," J.C. interrupted.

"I want you to go without me. I don't want to hold you back. You guys have been waiting your entire life for this, and if I become a burden then… well it's just not worth it to me anyway. Besides, I can just rent a day car and catch up to you if I need to…"

"Wait," Isaac re-interrupted, "How did you get a higher score than me? I've always been better than you!"

Garret looked at him for a moment, the way one would at someone who had just deleted your life's memoirs, and hissed, "You _retard_! Can you stop thinking about yourself for one moment? You passed. I _failed_. You got a, lemme see… sixteen hundred. I got an eleven hundred. You shouldn't care that I got a few points higher than you on some stupid test that you'll never take again!"

"But I do care! I bet you didn't even know half the attacks of the pokemon you got. You shouldn't have done that well!" Isaac shot back

"_Well_? I failed, you idiot! Stop being so damn conceited! You didn't win."

"I know I can beat you!"

"Wanna try?"

The challenge hung in the air. "Shit." J.C. held the curse out, prolonging the feeling of unreality.

"Sure," Isaac spat tersely.

J.C. forced out a hoarse laugh, "No way am I going to be all baby-sitter like I've been lately. If you guys want to make the biggest mistake you've made so far, be my guest. But, please, take this seriously. It's against the law. Just cool down."

Garret ignored her, "Let's go right now and see if your weak torchic can last longer than ten seconds with my clamperl."

J.C. growled and looked up as the sun moved out from behind a cloud. She screamed the worst curse she had ever used, at the top of her lungs, then ran off behind them.

They ran until the houses ended, then squared off in an open field. As if previously planned, they simultaneously released their pokemon. Torchic looked confused, then realized what was going on, and clamperl appeared to be sleeping, but awoke when the fire pokemon called across to it. Clamperl rolled around in its shell with glee, not yet sensing the aggressive attitudes of the two trainers.

J.C. arrived wordlessly and leaned against a tree.

Isaac glared across the field. _Torchic is at the disadvantage because of its fire type, but if it uses focus energy first, we have a higher chance of winning._

Garret glared right back. _Clamperl can use iron defense for any physical attack Isaac's torchic uses, but clamperl's slower and… ah screw it. I know my pokemon._

"Torchic, focus energy!" Isaac almost coughed, nervous even though he had done it thousands of times with training pokemon.

Orange energy started appearing around the tiny fowl, but faded away. The torchic looked back, not quite understanding.

"What are you doing? You should know that move!" Isaac yelled, "Try it ag-"

"Water gun!"

The weak spray shot slightly to the left of torchic, but managed to hit it and knock it down. The fire pokemon jumped up quickly, shaking itself off, although it clearly appeared damaged.

"Ah… get closer and use ember, torchic!" Isaac shouted, getting used to the battle.

Torchic ran forward, and to the right, after another poorly aimed water gun, then spewed dull flames inside the thick shell of the clamperl.

The water type attempted to turn away, but was practically immobile and failing miserably.

"No, no! Use iron defense!" Garret yelped.

The clam pokemon immediately closed its shell tightly, rendering the already weak ember attack useless.

"Peck at its shell," Isaac screamed, "It can't do anything now!"

There were several awkward moments in which the torchic stood next to the clamperl pecking wholeheartedly at the tough material. Nothing happened until torchic jumped on top of the shell to get a better angle.

Isaac was at first apprehensive about this. _Torchic is in a really vulnerable position. What are clamperl's attacks? Water gun: it's closed up and can't shoot the water. Whirlpool: that only works underwater. Vice grip: again, clamperl's closed. Iron defense: he's already doing that!_

Confident that torchic was safe, but unsure of his next move, Isaac tentatively said, "Uh, use ember again."

Garret smirked across the battlefield, "Clamperl, use whirlpool!"

The clam began spinning which, although it did not create a vortex of water, effectively knocked the fowl off clamperl's back and onto its own.

"Now… vice grip!"

The water type lunged forward and gripped the chick with its shell, squeezing as hard as it could. Torchic began squealing at the top of its lungs.

"Use ember! Use ember!" Isaac exasperatedly screamed.

Torchic blew weak embers into the clam's face for a moment. "I can still beat you!" trilled Isaac desperately.

Clamperl began to stop clenching, but garret yelled, "Keep at it clamperl!"

J.C. jumped up and gaped at the teenager as he called to Isaac.

"What are you talking about? Are you so freaking blind that can't even see when your own pokemon is hurt! I don't care about the idiotic license, and having it doesn't change how much of an ignorant moron you are! You may know your facts, but you don't know anything about pokemon!"

Isaac looked from the straining clamperl that was imprisoning his injured torchic to Garret.

"Garret… tell it to let go!" he shouted.

"Not until you tell me what _really_ matters."

Blood began running down the back of torchic's head.

J.C. screamed, "This isn't funny, Garret! Tell it to stop! Tell it to stop!"

He glared at her then back to Isaac. "Answer my question Isaac."

Isaac fell to his knees and looked up at Garret with tears in his eyes.

"Garret… you're not stupid. You're not a bad trainer. You don't need a license. You beat me. You beat me! You're better than me! Goddamn it! Damn you! Tell it to let go!"

Garret looked tired, angry and sick. He called off the clamperl.

The clamperl finally let go and torchic fell limply to the ground.

The next day, a thoroughly windswept Isaac stumbled out of the police station.

"Oh my god!" cried J.C. as she ran to him with Mr. and Mrs. Alsup behind her.

"Now son, remember, whatever happens, we always love you, but we can't let you go on your journey," said a reluctant Hector Alsup.

"It doesn't matter," Isaac almost whispered, looking down at the pavement, "I'm not allowed to capture or register pokemon under my name for a year. They said I got off easy for battling an unlicensed trainer. Since, y'know… torchic...got hurt and all."

J.C. looked around uncomfortably, and then tentatively asked, "What happened to… what happened to Garret?"

"How the hell should I know?" he lashed out.

"Son," Janine Alsup warned firmly. "I think we all need to go home now. J.C., you too."

"Alright," she sighed, and began the newly official pokeball on her belt.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

J.C. walked back into Alluvial city, feeling at once arrogant and unsure. She rubbed the pokeballs on her belt, as she had become so prone to do lately.

"Okay, I could either go visit my parents, or I could go visit Garret… and Isaac… my friends."

She let out a nervous laugh, and began heading toward Garret's house.

Three hours later, Isaac was lying on his front lawn dozing. When a shadow blocked out the sun, he awoke. Sitting up, smiling, he said, "Y'know, if it weren't for all those pokeballs, I'd say you looked like J.C."

"And if it…" J.C, paused, searching for something witty to say. She looked a little sad. "How's it been going since all that crap happened? Garret says that you guys haven't spoken at all."

"It's been different."

He sighed, "I'm never going to talk to him again. I can't forgive him… I know that I was a jerk. Real stuck up. I'm sorry."

J.C. helped him onto his feet.

"Do you want to see the place where…"

"Okay."

He led her behind the house and to a small patch of recently churned earth.

"When Torchic died, I told myself that I'd never be a trainer, that I couldn't handle them, and couldn't really understand them. Pokemon I mean," Isaac whispered, "Now I'm not even sure about that. I kind of feel like if I start training again, I'll be breaking a promise to Torchic."

They both stood staring down at the grave like it would tell them what to do, and, as they both expected, it did not.

"I know what you need to do," J.C. interjected, "You should come with me when I leave again. I mean, your parents were going to let you go anyway once you're legally allowed to catch pokemon. And you're not really doing anything around here. Right?" He shrugged. "Try to convince your parents to let you come with me early. For experience. And besides, it gets pretty lonely not knowing anyone out there. Please?"

Isaac smiled, "So you basically want me to be your assistant for the next nine months? Sure, I'll ask them."

"Great!"

J.C. pushed open the screen door, and they walked into the kitchen, where Mr. and Mrs. Alsup were cooking. Before they could even greet J.C., Isaac began reciting what almost sounded to be a premeditated speech.

"Mom, Dad, I've given it a lot of thought," (J.C. shifted uncomfortably), "and I think that I should go with J.C. on her journey. I know what you're going to say, and I think that you'll find it benefits all of us. I will be given the experience I need before I even begin training, and since I will be eating at pokemon centers a lot, and I _can _do that because I technically am a licensed pokemon trainer, you will actually financially benefit from me going. I mean, hey, you're paying the taxes to support those things in the first place. And I promise that I'll phone you every time I get to a pokemon center."

Janine and Hector seemed a little stunned.

"Umm… don't you have a job or something?" Hector asked slowly.

"No."

"Then, what have you been doing these last three months?" Janine questioned, still surprised.

"Exactly," Isaac responded resolutely.

"… Sure?" Hector said, although he definitely was not sure.

The rest of the day consisted of Isaac packing, J.C. telling him that he had packed to much, and the two of them arguing over which items were more important. J.C. eventually went home, after they agreed to leave early the next day.

When 'early the next day' came (around eleven o'clock), the two teenagers met at the town gates.

"I never imagined myself leaving this way," Isaac remarked quietly. "We're leaving without Torchic… and Garret. Things didn't really work out well. Not like I wanted."

J.C. locked her hands behind her head and smiled wistfully. "I actually invited Garret too, but he said no. I had originally planned to do one of those clichéd 'force them to be together and their friendship will come back' things. But he said no… Are you ready?"

He brightened, "Okay, let's go!"

Isaac realized, as he stepped under the archway, that he no longer knew J.C. as he had before. She was the teacher now, and he had a lot to learn.


End file.
